Ilicl)arii Sourne. 



RICHARD BOURNE, 



MISSIONARY TO THE MASHPEE INDIANS. 



BY 



MARY FARWELL AVER. 



BOSTON: 

PRESS OF DAVID CLAPP & SON. 

1908. 



.377 



Reprinted from the 

New England Historical and Genealogical Register 

for April, 1908. 



In excUaago 

Ci^. (T"^^ ■<^^- 



RICHARD BOURNE, 
MISSIONA.RY TO THE MASHPEE INDIANS. 



In January, 1634, there appeared on a list of passengers bound for St. 
Christopher and the Barbadoes the name of " Richard Borne," at that time 
a young man twenty-four years old.* We know nothing of his ancestry. 
We do not even know from what part of England he came, although we 
would like to believe that he was connected with some of the prominent 
families bearing the same name in Lancaster.! On the passenger list was 
another of the same name, Thomas Borne, but we cannot even trace a re- 
lationship between the two men. 

The plan for emigrating to the Barbadoes was later abandoned, for we find 
some of the passengers settled before long in Lynn. In 1637, many re- 
moved from this town to Cape Cod and founded the town of Sandwich. 

Others from Duxbury and Plymouth soon joined the new settlement, 
among whom was Richard Bourne. Before long he became a man of 
prestige in the new settlement, for references to him abound in the Records 
of Plymouth Colony. Tradition asserts that he was a man of wealth. He 
served on many committees, and for several years was deputy to the 
Plymouth Court. He also served as a surveyor of highways, as a receiver 
of oil for Sandwich, as one of a committee to buy lands at Falmouth and 
Yarmouth from the Indians. The high esteem in which he was held is 
shown from the fact that on one occasion a woman was ordered to be 
whipped for speaking evil of him.t 

He was twice married ; by his first wife, Bathsheba, daughter of An- 
drew Hallett, he had four sons : Job, Shearjashub, Elisha and Ezra. The 
first three left a numerous posterity ; of the youngest, Ezra, however, noth- 
ing is known beyond the fact of his birth, in 1648, and he probably died 
young. 

In 1677, he married at an advanced age, for a second wife, Mrs. Ruth 
Win slow. § 

For many years Richard Bourne and Thomas Tupper carried on the 
religious exercises in Sandwich. Although having separate congregations, 
it was decided that, as there were so few to attend, it was not wise to have 
two services, but that the minister for the day should be the one having 
the larger congregation. The two congregations finally united under the 
administrations of a certain Mr. Smith. || 

*Hotten's Lists of Emigrants. Of the one linndred and three passengers, only two 
were over forty years old. All the passengers were men. 

t Several of tiie name had held positions of prominence. Sir John Bourne was 
Secretary of State under Queen Mary. His nephew Gilbert was bishop of Bath and 
Wells. 

X Ply mouth Records, Yo\.Z,x>.^% . The execution was respited. 

On one occasion he was fined for having in his possession three unringed pigs. 
This is the nearest to a ceiisure of him I have been able to find. 

^ Richard Bourne's love letters to Mrs. Winslow have been published in the New 
Enqland Magazine foi- 1900, p. 113. After his death, she married for a third husband 
Elder John Chipman. 

II 1 Mass. Historical Society Collections, Vol. 3, p. 188. 



Ever since his settlement in Sandwich, Mr. Bourne had always taken 
great interest in the Indians living in the vicinity. A few miles from 
Sandwich is a tract of laud about ten miles long and five miles wide, the 
Mashpee Reservation, which had been reserved especially for these so- 
called " South Sea Indians." The original grant I have been unable to 
find, either in the State Archives or at Barnstable, but it is said to have 
been obtained through the efforts of Richard Bourne, after 1660. In 1672, 
this grant was confirmed before John Alden by Quachetasset.* 

The ruling elders always endeavored to have the rights of these Indians 
protected. As early as 1658 we find an Indian complaining that horses 
belonging to certain inhabitants of Sandwich had eaten his corn. An order 
was forthwith issued that those owning the horses must give restitution.f 

The first mention of Mashpee in connection with Bourne was in Octo- 
ber, 1654, when he made a request for some land at Mashpee pond, to- 
gether with ten acres of meadow. $ The following July he was granted a 
right to the upland meadow at Mashpee pond " provided hee doe it with 
the concent of the Indians to whom it belongeth."§ On June 13, 1660, 
liberty was granted Richard Bourne and Thomas Tupper to look up lands 
for their accommodation towards the South Sea " and that then a competency 
wilbee graunted by Court." The following March he chose some lands 
above Sandwich and also a meadow in Mashpee. According to a deed 
dated May 17, 1661, the land bought in Sandwich cost him £15. It was 
purchased under order of October 2, 1660. June 4, 1661, when the deed 
was confirmed, it was stated that the Court also granted Mr. Bourne a 
parcel of meadow at Mashpee, one half to belong to him and his heirs for- 
ever — the other half to be used by him until the Court object. || 

From this time on, the life of Richard Bourne was closely allied to that 
of the Mashpee Indians. For carrying on his evangelical work he received 
a certain compensation from the Corporation for Propagating the Gospel 
in New England, a corporation established in London, doubtless largely 
through the influence of Edward Winslow, at that time acting as agent for 
the Plymouth Colony in London.^ This Company, which had been estab- 
lished in 1649, bore the name " The President and Society for the Propa- 
gation of the Gospel in New England." It consisted of a president, treasu- 
rer, and fourteen assistants. The £12,000 collected in England and Wales 
was spent in purchasing landed property at Eriswell, Suffolk,** and a farm 
at Plumstead, Kent ; also, property in London.tt The rents received were 
to be paid through the treasurer of the Commissioners of the United Colo- 
nies in New England to missionaries among the Indians, The Corporation 
also paid for publishing the Indian Bible and religious tracts, besides ei-ect- 
ing necessary mission houses. The church at Mashpee was paid for in this 
way. 

* Plymouth Colony Records, Vol. 6, p. 159. 

ilbid, Vol.3, p. 132. 

tibid, Vol.3, p. 68 

4 Ibid, Vol. 3, p. 85. 

\\Ibid, Vol.4, p. 3. 

II Ibid, Vol. 10. In 1659, Richard Bourne received £20 ; from 1661-63, £25 annually ; 
1664-66, £30 annually ; in 1672, £35. 

1 Mass. Historical Society Collections, Vol. 1, p. 218. 

John Eliot refers to Sandwich "Where my beloved brother, Mr. Bourne, is a 
faithful and prudent labourer and a good man. The following statement is written 
below : " To Mr. Richard Bourne in Plymouth CoUonie £30." 

**Sold in 1KG9 to Maharajah Duleep'Singh. 

ft William M. Venning. Origin of the New England Company, 



With the Restoration, in 1660, the Corporation became defunct for a 
short time, but a new charter was obtained the following year under the 
name of " The Company for Propagacion of the Gospell in New England, 
and the Parts adjacent in America." The company was limited to forty- 
five members, the first forty-five being named in the cliarter. Among 
these members were to be found both Dissenters and Churchmen,* Robert 
Boyle, son of the Earl of Cork, was the first president, and proved a 
staunch friend to the Indian cause.f It may be interesting to know that 
this society is still in existence, and that Henry H. Edes, Esq., of Boston, 
has written an account of the Corporation, " which is often referred to by 
historical writers under many variants from its legal name," in the Trans- 
actions of The Colonial Society of Massachusetts (Vol. 6, pages 180-184). 

Richard Bourne is first mentioned in connection with this Society in 
1657, when it was stated that he and five others would probably receive a 
salary of £150.$ The only direct information we have from Bourne him- 
self is found in a letter written in 1674 to Daniel Gookin. He mentions 
different places on the Cape where " Praying Indians " were to be found, 
but dwells especially on those living at Mashpee. He makes a special plea 
for books, no doubt to carry on his educational work among the hundred or 
more children under his care. He goes on to state that among the Indians 
there was but one gathered church, " and ninety persons, baptized ; be- 
sides yet in full communion, twenty-seven. For Englifhmen that are em- 
ployed in the work, that respects this account, there is only myself. Mr. 
John Cotton is employed in another part of the Coloay."§ Four Indians 
were employed with him in carrying on this work, besides others called on 
from time to time. These assistants had not as yet received any salary 
from the honored Commissioners because of the miscarrying of his letter. 

At the dedication of Richard Bourne's Indian church were pi-eseut Gov- 
ernor Winslow, several of the magistrates, seven teaching elders, besides 
messengers from the different churches. It was estimated that there were 
five hundred persons in attendance. It was not long before Bourne peti- 
tioned the General Court to allow six Indians to have chief inspection, under 
his supervision, over the Reservation. He also asked that one of the num- 
ber be appointed constable. || Such rapid strides were made in the education 
of these Indians that a convention was held in 1666 at Mashpee to deter- 
mine whether or not they were entitled to church membership. The Indiana 
made their confession of faith, which met with the approval of the Gover- 
nor, John Eliot, magistrates and ministers of Plymouth Colony.il Before 
committing themselves, they ordered the confession to be written out and 
sent to all the churches in the colony for their approbation. As no dissent 
was reported, the Indians were, in 1670, admitted into church fellowship, 

*H. M. Bush. A sketch of the Origin and Recent History of the New England Com- 
pany. 

t" After the Revolution the New England Colonies were declared independent, so 
the Company could no longer carry on work there. In compliance with its charter, 
in 1786 it took up work in New Brunswick, which was carried on until 1804. That 
line of work proving unsuccessful, the Company in 1822 started missionary enterprises 
in British America." William M. Venning. Origin of the New England Company. 

X Plymouth Colony Records, Vol. 10, p. 189. "Richard Bourne, M>- Blindman, Mr 
Leuerich, M' Newman, Mr Thompson, all these haue been Incurraged to the worke 
though noe certaine allowance bee stated on them but accordingly as they apply them- 
selues soe that wee know not but that the charge may amount to £150." 
\^ 1 Mass. Historical Society Collections, Vol. 1, p. 198. 
J Plymouth Colony Records, Vol. 4, p. 80. 
11 Cotton Mather. Magnalia Christi Americana, Vol. 1, p. 567. 



under the ministrations of Mr. Bourne. The following extract is taken 
from the records of the First Church in Plymouth : 

" In this year, 70 ; Mr. Richard Bourne of Sandwich sent to the chh for mes- 
scngiers to take notice of the fitnesse of sundry Indians to gather into a chh at 
Mashpau. The Pastor, Elder and Secretary Morton were sent thither, Elders 
and messengers of many other chhs were there also, the Indians after confes- 
sions &c. were gathered into a chh, Mr. Bourne chosen and ordained their Pas- 
tor, all the chhs present approving thereof ; old Mr. Eliot, and our Pastor (JohB 
Cotton) laid on hands." 

Their pastor must have won. their respect and admiration, for in 1671 a 
declaration was drawn up by the Indians declaring that they would submit 
to the government and would promise to reveal any plots made against the 
colonies. 

The date of death of this faithful missionary is uncertain, although the 
fact that letters of administration were granted to Shearjashub and Elisha 
Bourne in 1682 to administer their father's estate leads us to believe that 
it occurred about that time. 

A copy of the settlement of his estate, and an inventory, may be found 
in the Probate Office in Barnstable. The children of his son Job, deceased, 
wei'e to have the house and land he lived on (appraised at £300) and twenty 
acres of laud lying at a place called " ye great hollow " — to be divided by 
the Court after the decease of his widow Ruth. The remainder of his es- 
tate was to go to his sons I-Clisha and Shearjashub. In the inventory his 
books are valued at £3. 10s.; a servant boy at £8. ; cash at £18. 148.;^ 
moveables at £134. 6s. Debts due the estate from English persons 
amounted to £502. 5s. 4d. ; those due from several Indians to £173. 5s. 2d. ; 
uplands and meadows were appraised at £300. He is supposed to have been 
buried near his own house, in the vicinity of the present glass factory.* 

An Indian, Simon Popiuonet, was Richard Bourne's successor. Shear- 
jashub succeeded his father iu the Mashpee inheritance. He lived there 
and presided over the Indian affairs until his death. He did what he could 
to i^rotect them from white men's cunning by aiding them to obtain a con- 
firmation of the deed of their lands. This grant secured forever to the 
South Sea Indians the Mashpee Reservation, with the exception of the up- 
lands and meadow formerly granted Richard Bourne. The part now trans- 
ferred to his son Shearjashub comprised a tract iu Mashpee with two islands 
— one half the fresh meadow at Mashpee bought for Bourne by John Alden, 
July 25, 1661 ; the upland containing thirty acres-, given by the Indians 
to him March 9, 1672 ; also the other half of the meadow bought by Alden 
and sold to Shearjashub in 1684 as a site for a meetinghouse.* 

Popmonet's successor, Joseph Bourne, grandson of Richard, was ordained 
their pastor in 1719, but resigned in 1742. He complained bitterly of the 
treatment the Indians had received. He was succeeded by an Indian 
preacher, Solomon Briant, who was in turn succeeded by Rev. Gideon 
Hawley. 

Indian affairs did not prosper as years passed by. The white men living 
in the vicinity took advantage of them, carried off their wood, cut down 
their trees, and took possession of land belonging by right of the Reserva- 
tion. The Indians were put under the guardianship of unsympathetic 

* Some assert that the remains of his house can still be seen. Freeman's Tlistory of 
Cape Cod, Vol. 1, p. 679. 
t Plymouth Colony Records, Vol. 6, p. 159-lGO. 



commissioners, and had a minister forced upon them who took little inter- 
est in their welfare.* Finally, about 1835, through the assistance rendered 
them by William Apes, a Pequot Indian who had been taken into the 
tribe, the condition of Mashpee Indians was greatly improved. In 1870, 
Mashpee was made a township, and now has her own representatives and 
iter own town officers. 

* Rev. Phineas Fish, apj>ointed by Harvard College and supported in part by the 
WillJams Fund, a fund consisting of $16,6G5.8i>, left to Harvard College in 1716 by an 
Englishman, Rev. Daniel Williams, the income from which was to be used in support- 
ing a missionary to the Indians. Mr. Fish lived in Mashpee over twenty years. His 
congregation, however, appears to have chiefly been made up of a few negroes and 
whi:e people living in the vicinity, as the Indians preferred to attend services held by 
<ijae of their tribe known as " Blind Joe." 



